Lawmakers Warn of Banking Chaos. It May Be Too Late.______________(news)
Link: msnbc.com
Senators and Congressmen have warned the FDIC that it's moving too
slowly. The FDIC insures America's banks and thrift institutions.
An FDIC spokesman says everything is just fine. It's all on schedule.
Don't worry.
This is a Reuter's story posted on MSNBC (Feb. 10).
* * * * * * *
- BOB BENNETT,Republican U.S. senator from Utah
"YOU NEED TO DO more and you need to do it faster," Bob Bennett, a
Utah Republican who chairs the financial services subcommittee of the
Senate Banking Committee, told Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
officials. . . .
"Unless more leadership and commitment are brought to bear on this
problem, I fear a potential for financial chaos for many bank customers,"
Bennett warned.
The FDIC insures deposits at more than 11,000 banks and savings
institutions. Together, these institutions are responsible for more than $6
trillion in assets and have insured deposits totaling in excess of $2.7
trillion. The agency also supervises 6,200 institutions, which on average
have $250 million in assets.
"If Year 2000 issues are not adequately addressed, key automated bank
systems - affecting trillions of dollars in assets, transactions and
insured deposits - are subject to serious consequences ranging from
malfunction to failure," Jack Brock, a GAO official, said in testimony
before Bennett's panel. . . .
That means automatic teller machines, wire transfer systems, check
clearing, security vaults and even telephone systems may not work on
Jan. 1, 2000. . . .
Michael Zamorski, deputy director of the FDIC's division of supervision,
assured the Senate panel that his agency is cooperating with other federal
and state bank regulators to help combat potential troubles among banks
and regulators.
Zamorski said the FDIC has identified a "small percentage" of institutions
that are not acting as quickly as they should but said the "great majority"
of FDIC-supervised institutions are taking appropriate action.
"We are aggressively monitoring institutions where we have identified
problems and, where we do not see prompt improvement, are pursuing
more stringent supervisory action," Zamorski said. |
